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Mega-Earnings Issue of PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

Hello everyone! Yes, it’s circus time here at PlaneBusiness Banter.That’s when yours truly is tied up at an industry conference for three days and has five in-depth earnings reports to do, two new earnings reviews to finish, and well all the rest of the stuff!

We also have PlaneBusiness Earnings Summaries posted for WestJet and Republic Holdings.

Other than our lengthy earnings call analysis this week, I also share some juicy tidbits from this year’s Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airline Symposium. While attendance at the event seemed to be down, as a result of the CAPA Americas Summit having been held just two weeks prior, it is still a great event to meet and mingle with some of the best industry leaders and insiders around.

Next week, I’ll go into more detail about the Open Skies panel, er, brawl, that took place. This week I share some of the comments that were made on the executive panel, as well as a few other tidbits from other panels.

You get a prize if you can tell me which successful airline investor and executive called fuel hedging a “scam.”

I agree.

This week we’re also talking about the Airbus A380, which is in the news for a variety of reasons. Oh, and yes, American Airlines did successfully launch commercial service on its new Boeing 787 aircraft last week as well.

Shares of COPA took a dive last week after the airline announced earnings. All in all it was a rather so-so week for the sector.

We talk a bit about Allegiant and its recent public to and fro with its pilots. The judge did come back late on May 1 with a ruling in favor of the airline, but like I say this week, that is just the tip of the iceberg. The pilots were successful in generating a great deal of negative press about the airline, the stock dropped, and the Federal Aviation Administration put restraints on the airline’s operations.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the Teamsters and the airline on a new contract continue later this month with the National Mediation Board.

All this and much, much, more in this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.